Admittedly I waited until the last second to post, so I'll just be making a few brief points in this round. I contend that alcohol is worse than Ecstasy (MDMA).

First and foremost, alcohol is responsible for a lot more deaths. Cumulatively, 2,601 deaths associated with MDMA were reported in a 5 year span [1]. That's about 520 per year. Meanwhile, seven metropolitan areas reported no deaths at all involving club drugs [2]. On the other hand, there are over 14,400 deaths each year pertaining to alcohol's effect on the liver, and 23,200 deaths each year pertaining to alcohol use *excluding* homicides and accidents which would inevitably add significantly on to the number [3]. That means alcohol is responsible for a lot more than 72 times the deaths per year that occur from MDMA.

Now, one might assume that this is because more people use alcohol than MDMA and that's true. However, the reality is that the effects of MDMA are simply less harmful. For one thing, the primary way people die from MDMA use is over-heating as their body temperature rises from ingesting the drug. It should be noted, though, that alcohol presents the same problem, and that this can be easily avoided which is why it's so rare. Moreover MDMA most definitely changes the way you perceive reality, but it doesn't completely inhibit you from it like alcohol does. People don't "black out" from Ecstasy, get into maniacal drunk and violent rages, kill people in driving accidents, etc. Instead the most common reaction is one feeling empathy, sexual or friendly [4].

Simply put (again I'm running short on time, though my opponent can elaborate and I will definitely respond) the effects of both short term and long term alcohol abuse seem not only more dangerous but more prevalent. More importantly, alcohol is significantly more addictive [5], meaning the likelihood of experiencing any of these negative impacts is heightened after consuming alcohol vs. consuming Ecstasy. Dependence on a drug is not a good thing - another point in favor of MDMA.

At this point I won't get into how MDMA was and in some cases still is used therapeutically, and all of the positives associated with said drug. I'll also avoid talking about (for now) the ways in which the dangers and harms of said drug are highly exaggerated and/or flat out lies. Essentially I'll wait and see what my opponent offers in favor of alcohol being less harmful, because I don't want to waste my time if this debate isn't going to go anywhere.

As expected, my opponent has not posted anything essentially causing her to forfeit this debate in its entirety. She hasn't set up a clear resolution, she hasn't made any initial arguments and she hasn't responded in the second round. Because it's generally considered bad conduct to post any new arguments in the third round, she technically cannot post anything -- meaning she will not have made any contribution to this discussion. Although I could have done a much better job explaining why MDMA is safer than alcohol, I still made a handful of arguments - none of which have been refuted thus far. I expect my opponent to forfeit the final round as well which is why I won't elaborate further at this point.